allies,
which could in any way prejudice the
peaceful attitude of my country. This
solidarity has never prevented us, and
does not prevent us today, from keeping
Poland in the same friendly state of
mind.

"In so serious an
hour I sincerely believe that no
high-minded human being could understand
it if a war of destruction were started
without a last attempt being made to
reach a peaceful settlement between
Germany and Poland. Your desire for
peace could, in all certainty, work for
this aim without any prejudice to German
honor. I, who desire good harmony
between the French and the German
people, and who am, on the other hand,
bound to Poland by bonds of friendship
and by a promise, am prepared, as head
of the French Government, to do
everything an upright man can do to
bring this attempt to a successful
conclusion.

"You and I
were in the trenches in the last war.
You know, as I do, what horror and
condemnation the devastations of that
war have left in the conscience of the
people without any regard to its
outcome. The picture I can see in my
mind's eye of your outstanding role as
the leader of the German people on the
road of peace, toward the fulfillment of
its task in the common work of
civilization, leads me to ask for a
reply to this suggestion.

"If
French and German blood should be shed
again as it was shed 25 years ago in a
still longer and more murderous war,
then each of the two nations will fight
believing in its own victory. But the
most certain victors will be destruction
and barbarity."